Political and religious commentary from a liberal, secular, humanistic perspective.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Let's be damned for not blowing up the world!

One of the surest signs we ought to step back and reconsider Obama's desire to send the American military to blow Syria apart is the fact that Boehner and Cantor and McCain approve. There's something seriously wrong with this picture!

The picture got even more dismal when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her support for Obama's plan of military action. It darkened some more when Ms. Pelosi also climbed aboard the military juggernaut!

When I read of these things a creepy realization dawned: there's no hope. When push comes to shove, there's not much difference between the Democrats and Republicans. They both follow the path of least resistance -- morality or goodness or just plain common sense be damned.

We are told by Democrats in whom we have believed that if we do not send rockets into Syria the consequences will be horrific! Shades of Iraq. Again, we're not told what those consequences will be--just that they will be bad, very bad. We must start shooting now! Fire up those missiles!

We've heard all these rationales before. Kerry says it's not like Iraq. Why not? How not? It's not like Afghanistan, he said. Again, he didn't, so far as I know, explain the difference. We're not going to war he said. Well, when the hell did bombing another country not constitute a state of war?

And then later today, he hemmed and hawed about putting boots on the ground.

This is the way it always begins. And it always ends with our young American men and women dying in the trenches while the rich and the powerful and the mighty sit home sipping martinis, getting deferments for their kids, collecting bonus checks from the companies that provide the resources to fight the war.

[Here's a thought: Follow the money! Who or whom will benefit from military action in Syria. It won't be the American taxpayer!!!!]

Well, where the hell is the money coming from? We've got a sequester going. All kinds of necessary things, like education, are suffering from that particular bit of stupidity which was the "gift" of Boehner, Cantor, McCain and other nogoodniks in our Congress. We haven't begun to pay China for the Iraq war! Isn't it strange that all these folks in our government who have been weeping and whining about our debt, claiming it is strangling us and will be the death of us, can somehow find the money to go off on military misadventures but never can find a cent rebuild a few bridges that are falling down, or hire more teachers or put more cops on the beat?

Norm Chomsky says that if we do what Obama wants we will be guilty of committing war crimes. Of course, that fact doesn't get a lot of traction seeing as how there isn't anyone or any country powerful enough or stupid enough to try to stop us. And we remember too clearly how the Bush-Cheney gang got off scot-free even though there was no question under the law that our militaristic adventures in Iraq were illegal and based upon a series of lies and evasions which means that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et. al., are clearly war criminals.

But let's turn this around. Let's say our treatment of "illegal" immigrants and our treatment of minorities was thought to be horrendous by another country, Mexico, for example. So, Mexico, in its sovereignty, decided to shoot a few rockets into Border Patrol stations along the Rio Grande to teach us a lesson

We would scream bloody murder and bomb Mexico into little bitty tacos.

Now perhaps our treatment of minorities and "illegals" does not measure up to the same standard of dastardlyness that Assad's chemical weapons do, but that really isn't the point. The point is encompassed this way:

By what right does an American president and an American Congress, against the majority will of the people of these United States, shoot rockets or missiles or whatever the hell they've got planned into another country to "punish" the leader?

There is no such right, even though George W. Bush attempted to create one.

But there's more. Why did we not intervene when 100,000 people were killed by Assad's forces? Is it OK to kill by automatic weapons, bombs, grenades, etc., but not by using other weapons we find particularly distasteful? A few hundred Syrians killed by "chemical" weapons justifies American intervention? What nonsense!

And more. We don't even know who the "good" guy rebels are and who the "bad" guy rebels are? We do know, however, the al Qaeda wants Assad gone and other terrorist groups are actively present in Syria! So, will our military might assist them in reaching their goals, whatever such goals might be?

And more. If we really cared about the Syrian people, we should find some creative ways to assist the thousands upon thousands of refugees who have fled the country and are now living in despair and misery.

And finally: It's a no-win situation for the United States. We are hated in the Middle East for our interventions and not one Arab anywhere gives a damn about our good intentions. Whatever we do or don't do we will be damned.